Thursday, October 13, 2011

Q: Name something that is part of a group of twelve. Change the first letter to the next letter of the alphabet to name something that is part of a group of nine. What are these things?

Now that I have the answer, anyone care to have a discussion on whether there are eight or nine in that last group?

Edit: My comment was an attempt to mislead people into thinking the group of nine was planets (8 now without Pluto). My hint was "answer" which rhymes with the answers. The starting letters were hidden in care and discussion.

63 comments:

Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via Google or Bing) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

I've submitted TWO possible answers; the first of which I'm sure is Blaine's answer, the second of which is a bit more obscure. In BOTH of mine, it's debatable whether the second set is of 9 or just 8.My answers involve two DIFFERENT sets of 12 and two DIFFERENT sets in which it's debatable whether they are sets of 9 or of only 8.

Not to be crabby, but my first thought was that I could name a member of a group of twelve whose name is also the name of a member of a group of nine. No doubt these names enter into some of the flurry of comments posted before I got here.

As for the challenge as actually given, I can hardly stand the wait for the official answer, since as others have noted, one of the groups in my solution may have changed the number of members.

Back at B_D. If we are traveling in parallel universes, then I would point out that the eighth and ninth members of our group have the same name as two of the members of the group of nine, one of which I believe is part of the intended answer.

I’ve submitted what is obviously the correct answer. I admit I’ve said this before, some weeks solving the puzzle is easier than figuring out some of the clues :) BTW, I see a possible tie-in with last week’s puzzle. Anyone else?

Dave:You put your finger (I hope you washed it first) on exactly what was keeping me from getting the answer until last night. My suggestion to you is to look for a third possibility. When I did that my thinking came into proper alignment.

A really stupid puzzle that was poorly stated and misleading in my opinion.

Clues:

"When I did that my thinking came into proper alignment." Stars in alignment is a hint at astrological signs. I'm not sure if this works properly and actually should be planets, but I don't care about astrology or Nancy Reagan.

My musical clue: Johnny Nash. "I can see clearly now."

A regular clue: Apollo Ohno.I don't watch TV, but I think I kept hearing that he was on Dancing with the Stars. Sad!

Mel Brooks did a short film, starring Dom Deluise, "The Twelve Chairs." Not a clue, but an interesting aside.

@Blaine - stuck in the words "justice" and "chief" into a couple posts wondering if you were thinking Supreme Court. Samuel Alito is one of eight "associate" justices. The full court has nine members.

@B_D - if we were talking books of the bible, referencing Luke from wolftone's post, Ruth and Samuel are eight and nine respectively (regardless of whether you use the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox version (hence the difference of 5 books))and also members of the Supreme Court.

At first I did not understand that each of the group members had an individual name and so that threw me off for awhile. This caused me to lean toward, but not like, Brew and Crew, as in one of a 12 pack of beer and a crew member of a boat with 8 sculling rowers and one coxswain. I did not think this was the intended answer and so I kept working on it.

I've submitted TWO possible answers; the first of which I'm sure is Blaine's answer, the second of which is a bit more obscure. In BOTH of mine, it's debatable whether the second set is of 9 or just 8.My answers involve two DIFFERENT sets of 12 and two DIFFERENT sets in which it's debatable whether they are sets of 9 or of only 8.

Okay. The 1st answer I submitted was the expected one. The alternate answer I submitted was Lars (There's a Lars-Gunnar Pettersson and a Lars Eller who are each forwards on a professional Ice-hockey team.

There are 12 forwards on an Ice-hockey team), and Mars (one of the nine -- only now there are officially only eight) planets in our solar system.)

Hugh,Yes indeed, a slide rule! From Madonna's top hit, Little Star, "You are a treasure to me." My slide rule was a treasure to me because it got me through engineering college before the first scientific calculator (HP35) was marketed.Tom W.ΤΒΠ, 1971

Hugh,OK on RPI (W2SZ). A fine engineering college. I remember programming the IBM 360 in FORTRAN with punched cards. It was tedious, but it got the job done. The correct title of the song was Madonna's Lucky Star (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xthyv9PjjsY), worth watching again. Now we have Lady Gaga to entertain us. I don't mind. Life is good here on the west coast of Florida.Regards,Tom W.W1MX '73

Sorry, Tommy, you blew it. In the 2nd part of your puzzle, you have to remove not just 1, not just 2, but THREE of the letters to get the full name of the company.

Some may by quick to ask, "But isn't there an apostrophe S at the end of the company name?"I actually thought that might be the case as well, but still that meant two letters had to be dropped, and when I discovered the answer to the 1st part, I entered *that* name into Wikipedia which gave the full company name; and no, the full company name does NOT end in an apostrophe S, so THREE letters must be dropped.

My answer was Darth and Earth. Darth Vader (as Anakin Skywalker) was appointed to the 12 member Jedi Council in "Revenge of the Sith" and even though Pluto was demoted, Earth was a member of a nine planet system for over 70 years.